Former KS Congressman Mike Pompeo Marks One Year at the CIA

One year after taking over at the Central Intelligence Agency, former Kansas congressman Mike Pompeo talked about issues facing the nation, including the war against terror and Guantanamo Bay prison. Pompeo spoke at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), discussing CIA achievements and more in his remarks and conversation with Marc Thiessen, A-E-I Resident Fellow.

Pompeo said, "If we're gonna take down networks, we need the opportunities to engage with individuals who have been pulled from the battlefield. We need to make sure we have the time, the space, the capacity, to take on board the information that these individuals may well possess."

Pompeo spoke about the U.S. situation with North Korea: "North Korea is ever closer to being able to hold America at risk. I said that was a handful of months. I had said the same thing several months before that. I want everyone to understand that we are working diligently to make sure that a year from now I can still tell you they are several months away from having that capacity.

"We're not quite where we need to be; our mission is not complete. But we have officers all around the world working diligently to make sure that we do everything we can to support the U.S. pressure campaign, and to tighten the sanctions in such a way that we have the opportunity to prevail and achieve the American President's mission, which is the de-nuclearization of the peninsula."

Some have criticized President Trump for reportedly having a short attention span in high-level briefings. Pompeo responded to that: "I have seen 25-year Intelligence professionals receive briefings; I would tell you that President Trump is the kind of recipient of our information at the same level that they are."

Tuesday's event at the AEI marked the anniversary of Director Pompeo's first year at the CIA.